MUMBAI: There’s a growing opportunity for Salman Khan to transition into more mature, character-driven roles that align with his age and legacy. We got a glimpse of this in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ and ‘Sultan’, but we haven’t seen more of these choices in the last decade. That is, perhaps, a realistic route to longevity.
For over three decades, Khan has been one of Hindi cinema’s most bankable stars. His charisma and mass appeal have come to define the Bollywood superstar template, especially in the decade of 2010s. But the last few years tell a changing story. This analysis chronicles Salman Khan’s career since 2010, using box office and proprietary Ormax Media data.
After a string of indifferent films in 2008, Salman Khan re-introduced himself to the masses in 2009, with ‘Wanted’. But it was with ‘Dabangg’ in the following year (2010) that his reinvention, as an action superstar high on swag, truly started. Salman Khan’s box office journey from 2010 to 2025 can be divided into two sharply contrasting halves.
Between 2010 and 2017, Khan saw an extraordinary run of box office successes. It started with ‘Dabangg’, ‘Ready’ and ‘Bodyguard’ reaffirming his status as a mass action superstar. In 2012, ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ set a new personal best for Salman, collecting just short of ₹200 Cr nett. After a minor hiccup with ‘Jai Ho’ (2014), Kick quickly restored momentum later that year, becoming the first Salman Khan film to cross the Rs. 200 Crores nett mark, and solidifying his association with the Eid festival.
Between 2015 and 2017, Salman delivered three Rs. 300 Crores+ grossers: ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, ‘Sultan’ and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’. These films also expanded his appeal across demographics, because they blended emotional storytelling with mass entertainment.
Box office glory, however, has been more elusive 2018 onwards. In this period, Khan has seen six theatrical releases as the lead (not counting ‘Radhe’, which released on streaming during the pandemic), and only one of them (Tiger 3) managed to go past the ₹200 Cr mark. More importantly, ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’ (2023), and his latest release Sikandar (2025), barely scraped past Rs. 100 Crores, making the Eid connection relatively tenuous. Sikandar’s underperformance, particularly in the absence of a franchise hook, underscores the superstar’s fading theatrical pull.
OPR: Across its content testing tools, content likability is measured by a metric called Ormax Power Rating (OPR). OPR is a single number on a scale of 0-100 which represents how much a piece of content was liked by the people who consumed it. In principle, it is indicative of the extent of engagement of the audience with the content, and predicts the conversion of initial viewership to final viewership for any content piece. Higher OPR signifies higher advocacy (word-of-mouth) for the show, as well as higher conversion from first day to lifetime box office. Breakout films typically achieve OPRs in the 70s, while those in the 60s are generally positive, unless high budgets or reputational stakes are involved. We collected OPR for all major films after their release among actual viewers of the content, to build benchmarks that help us in .
The three highs (70+) came in the 2015-17 period. The preceding years (2010-14) saw four other films whose OPRs were in the 60s. Post 2017, however, even the 50-mark has been elusive, and Salman Khan releases have landed with low OPRs in the 30s and 40s, which indicates rejection of the content by audiences who watched it.
Ormax Stars India Loves: This is based on an audience survey that runs 365 days a year, with a monthly sample size of 8,000+ across nine languages. The survey samples regular theatre going audience across India, who are asked to name their two favorite male stars and two favorite female stars in each language they watch films in. Star popularity data of only the Hindi language audience has considered for this analysis.
During the ‘Dabangg’ to ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ period (2010-2017), Salman’s popularity share maintained an impressive average of 45%, reflecting a phase of sustained, stable, and consistent dominance. He was ranked no. 1 for 94 consecutive months from September 2010 (the start of Ormax Stars India Loves) till August 2018. However, a steady downward trend began Race 3 (2018) onwards, with no visible resurgence since then.
This steep decline in popularity, from 45% to less than 25% is a direct reflection of the decline in Salman Khan’s box office in the last seven years.
With a decline visible across box office, OPR, and popularity share, Khan’s current standing is a far cry from the roaring success of his peak years. While the brand ‘Salman Khan’ still commands attention, the numbers suggest that audience affection is no longer what is used to be, till a few years ahead.
Clearly, there’s need for reinvention. In the absence of that, Salman Khan’s future box office performances, especially in non-franchise and non-festival windows, could continue to see diminishing returns.
